


Home for Christmas

by gemzies



Series: Shake-Ups and Surprises [4]
Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Did I mention fluff?, Established Relationship, Fluff, Happy Ending, Holidays, Loneliness, M/M, Surprises, Travel, time zone issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:22:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21906679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gemzies/pseuds/gemzies
Summary: It's a unique type of loneliness that comes when you have to spend the holidays without the one you love.Seth had encouraged Finn to go back to Ireland for Christmas, taking advantage of NXT's two weeks off for the holidays. But the same time, he can't hide how much he misses him once he's gone. Finn, however, has something special planned for Seth to wake up to Christmas morning.
Relationships: Finn Balor | Prince Devitt/Seth Rollins | Tyler Black
Series: Shake-Ups and Surprises [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1577974
Comments: 1
Kudos: 17





	Home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Just a short bit of self-indulgent Christmas fluff. Happy holidays!
> 
> Takes place in the same universe as "Aftermath", but you don't need to have read that to understand this.

“Are you sure, love?”

Seth shook his head, wrapping his arms tight around the body currently pressed against him. “Seriously, Finn?” he said softly, trying to hide the exasperation in his voice by placing a soft kiss on the older man’s temple. “Are we seriously going over this _again_?”

Finn sighed, shifting slightly to rest his head on Seth’s chest. “I know, I know.” He paused for a second, fingers threading lightly through the hair on his lover’s torso. “I just worry, is all,” he breathed out finally. The _“about you”_ and _“about us”_ were unspoken, but he knew Seth would pick up on it. He always did.

“Finn.” Seth moved the arm that was resting atop his boyfriend’s stomach to cup the man’s chin, gently running his thumb along his cheek as he tilted his head slightly so they could make eye contact. “It’s fine. I mean it,” he stated. He smiled at Finn, small but warm and reassuring. “I’m happy for you, babe. You never get to see your family.”

Finn returned the smile, closing his eyes briefly as an invite for Seth to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Yeah,” he replied, smile fading into a look that almost resembled resignation. “But I never get to see you anymore, either.”

A slightly uncomfortable silence settled over the two of them as Finn again rested his head on the younger man’s chest, trying to hide the way his blue eyes glistened in the morning light peeking through the curtains. The roller-coaster the two of them had been on the past seven months had been dealt with several times over. Many late-night talks, arguments, and the eventual understanding of what everything meant for them as a couple over the span of time following the superstar shake-up in April, and again after the brand draft in October. The sorting out of touring schedules, time zones, and travel details to maximize their limited time together. The highs and lows of the business they both loved – titles won and lost, ever-changing positions on the card, TV time (or lack thereof), character reboots – and navigating the tides together the way they had been for the past two years, but on different shows and sometimes in different states instead of on the road together.

They’d had to make a Hell of an adjustment. And the road to get to where they stood now had been so rocky at one point it had almost cost them their relationship. But they survived, and both men would say they were stronger and more in love than ever. That didn’t make the separation any easier, though.

Seth couldn’t see the wetness in Finn’s eyes, but he could feel the blanket of guilt that threatened to settle over the Irishman. “Hey. Hey now. None of that.” He squeezed the other man tightly, resting his chin in Finn’s hair as he ran a comforting hand along the firm muscles of his back. “We’ve been through this, babe. We’re good.” He felt Finn nod against his skin, a soft puff of a sigh against his pecs making him shudder slightly despite himself and the resulting chuckle from his lover making his heart swell. “You know, we have some time before we have to get you to the airport,” he said, his voice low as his hand moved lower down his boyfriend’s back.

The sultry tone in Seth’s voice made Finn shiver. “Oh?” he replied innocently, snaking one of his legs over Seth’s so he could slide on top of the other man. He rested his chin on his hand, elbow sitting over Seth’s heart, and let his other hand slowly wind its way behind his boyfriend’s neck and into his dark curls. He tugged slightly on the long hair, a soft growl making its way from Seth’s throat and a cheeky grin spreading over his own face. “Did you have something in mind?”

“Well, I don’t know if you’re up for it after that low blow from Cole last night,” Seth answered with a smirk, hands moving to Finn’s hips as Finn rolled his eyes at the reference to the finish of his match. “You’ll be in Ireland for Christmas next week,” he continued, his left hand slowly tracing up Finn’s spine to settle the back of the older man’s head and running his thumb across the buzzed hair near his neck before pulling him down for a heated kiss. “How about you give me my present now?” The words were spoken against Finn’s lips, and Finn dove in for a kiss of his own as an answer.

*****

Traveling for a living didn’t make figuring out time differences any easier for Seth. Maybe it’s because they rarely travelled outside of the US, or it could be blamed on daylight savings complicating matters, any number of things, but he was admittedly bad at it. He’d gotten a bit better since Finn stepped off the road after Summerslam, but that didn’t make it any less surprising when the voice that answered his call sounded groggy and confused.

_“Hello?_

Seth plopped down on his couch and slapped his forehead. “Shit. Hey babe. I’m sorry,” he said quickly as he heard a muffled grunt and the sound of cloth rustling. “I’m so sorry. I woke you up again, didn’t I?”

_“It’s fine, love. Don’t worry about it.”_

“No, it’s not. What time is it there?” Seth regretted asking almost as soon as the question left his mouth.

_“Seriously, it’s alright. Uh… it’s almost two.”_

Seth sighed, leaning back and resting his head on the back of the couch. It was only 8pm in Davenport. “Sorry,” he muttered one more time. “I’ll get the hang of this one of these years.” He tried to keep his tone even, a hint of sadness threatening to creep in. Finn caught it immediately.

_“Love? Is everything okay?”_

“Huh?” Seth swallowed back the things he wanted to say – _‘No, it’s not okay, I miss you. I miss you and want you here for Christmas. I miss you_.’ “Yeah, everything’s fine!” he replied, possibly a bit overly enthusiastic, and with absolutely zero conviction.

_“You’re upset.”_

Seth sighed, running a hand across his face. “Babe, I already told you. I’m fine,” he said for a second time, silently cursing the fact that Finn knew him so well.

_“Seth.”_

Before Seth could say anything in answer to the accusing tone in Finn’s voice, he heard a click as the call abruptly ended. He pulled the phone away from his ear in disbelief that he’d been hung up on, staring at it for a moment before it began to ring with an incoming FaceTime call. “For fuck’s sake,” he muttered as he accepted.

Finn’s face filled the screen, a sad smile on his face. _“Seth,”_ he repeated, the tone much gentler now that he could see the loneliness hiding in large brown eyes. _“You don’t have to spare my feelings.”_

The words were said softly, meant to comfort, but all they did was make Seth feel worse. “I don’t want you to feel bad about going home for the holidays…”

_“I went to Ireland for the holidays, love. Home is with you.”_

Seth’s face grew warm as Finn cut him off, and he again silently cursed his boyfriend as the tiny smirk on the Irishman’s face gave away that he could see him blushing. “I love you. But still,” he continued, trying to regain his train of thought. “Two weeks off is rare in this business. I want you to enjoy the time with your family.”

Finn smiled again, this time a little less sad but still wistful. _“Thank you, love.”_ He was grateful Seth not only understood but encouraged him to return to Bray once he’d learned NXT would be off for both Christmas and New Year’s Day. That being said, it was still weird spending the holidays apart. _“I wish you could be here with me,”_ he muttered, half under his breath.

“I know. I miss you, too.”

Before things spiraled to the point of tears (again), Finn decided to try and lighten the mood. _“Mom got anything big planned this year?”_

Seth groaned, launching into an overly dramatic telling of how he’d gotten back to Iowa the day before after fulfilling some work obligations to discover his mother had invited ‘half the city’ to what was supposed to be a small family Christmas. Finn laughed along at Seth’s ridiculous imitations of his mom and his animated description of how he’d had to talk her out of trying to invite even more people.

 _“She’s going to kill you if she ever hears you do that, you know,”_ Finn said with a chuckle.

Seth just shrugged. “Eh, whatever.” That drew another small laugh out of the older man, and Seth began to feel a bit better. “I’ll let you get back to sleep, babe. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

_“I’m glad you called, love. Feicfidh mé tú i gceann dhá lá.”_

Seth frowned. “Finn, you know I have no idea what you just said.”

Finn had a weird smile on his face, sleepy but still a bit mischievous, and Seth really began to regret not taking Finn’s dad up on his offer to teach him Gaelic. _“Goodnight, love. I’ll talk to you on Christmas.”_

Seth huffed, realizing the Irishman had no intention of telling him what he’d said. “Goodnight, babe. Love you.”

_“Love you, too.”_

Finn hung up, and Seth put his phone down on the table with a sigh. Christmas was in two days, and then he’d return to the road for Raw’s annual show at Madison Square Garden the day after. Once he was back on tour the separation would feel more normal, he told himself. It would feel like any other recent tour, and he could pretend that he didn’t feel so lonely despite getting to spend the holiday with his family.

*****

Seth yawned as he turned the water on to wash his hands. He’d gotten home a bit later than expected after spending Christmas Eve with his brother and some of their friends from when they were kids, and had passed out almost immediately. Unfortunately for Seth, falling asleep so quickly usually meant waking up at some ungracious hour to use the restroom. In this case, it was four in the morning. He finished up and reached for a towel but before he could grab it, he heard what sounded like a soft banging noise coming from the living room and nearly jumped out of his skin.

He quickly dried his hands and edged to the doorway, peeking out slightly and looking down the hall towards the front door. “Hello?” he called, listening carefully for any further sounds. Nothing. He reached a hand along the wall until he found the light switch and flipped it on. Seth couldn’t see anything unusual or out of place as he slowly walked down the hall, everything appeared to be where he left it. “Anyone?” he called out again, a little louder this time. He turned and peered into the living room, the room bathed in dim light from the Christmas tree by the window, and again found nothing different from the way it looked before.

Seth sighed, the sigh turning into a yawn as he turned back down the hall. “Get a grip, Rollins.” He flipped the lights back off as he passed the switch, crawling back under the covers once he’d reached his bed. “It’s only been a week and you’re already hearing things,” he chided himself with a laugh. Under normal circumstances hearing a noise in the middle of the night meant Finn had arrived back from Florida, and he’d soon find himself wrapped in the comfort of his lover’s arms. Now it meant he was delusional, and only served to remind him how much he wished he was with him for the holidays.

Seth tried to do the math on the time difference again, reaching for his phone on the nightstand as he thought about possibly calling or texting. It ended up being nothing but a fleeting thought as he fell back to sleep, his phone clutched in his hand and a murmur of Finn’s name on his lips.

*****

Seth jolted awake as he felt his hand vibrating. It took him a few seconds to realize what was going on, as he finally turned the phone towards his face to see an incoming call from Finn staring back at him. He accepted the call as he stifled a yawn, but before he could even say hello the call ended. “What the fuck?” he said softly as he checked the time on his lock screen. 7:30am. As he sat up and stretched his phone vibrated again, this time with a text message.

_“Your Christmas present is here.”_

Seth was too tired to register the use of the word “here”, as it was he had to read it a few times before his brain would recognize there were words on the screen to begin with.

_“Present, huh?”_

A winky-face emoji was the only response. “Dammit, Finn,” he grumbled as he made his way out of bed. He walked over to the dresser and pulled a pair of sweatpants out of the drawer, sliding them on and stretching again with a large yawn. “It’s too early for this shit.”

He plodded his way out of his room and down the hall, rubbing the sleep from his eyes along the way. He turned the corner towards the living room and immediately froze dead in his tracks.

“Merry Christmas, love.”

Sitting cross-legged in front of the tree, wearing a somewhat ridiculous dark green sweater with a bright red bow across the center of it, holding two mugs of coffee, grinning like a Cheshire cat and staring up at him with the brightest blue eyes Seth had ever seen, sat Finn Bálor.

“I… but… I don’t… Finn?” Seth sputtered. He closed his eyes for a moment, fully expecting Finn to be gone when he opened them again. Taking a deep breath, he slowly opened them again to find his boyfriend still sitting on his floor, and exhaled as everything finally began to sink in. “You… you’re here?”

Finn leaned over and set the two mugs down. Then he turned back to Seth, drinking in the pure surprise on the younger man’s face. “I’m here, Seth,” he replied softly. “I’m here.”

Seth finally regained control of his body, moving across the room and practically falling to the floor next to Finn. He threw his arms around the other man, burying his head in Finn’s neck as he pulled him in as tightly as he could. He could feel one of Finn’s hands start softly running through his hair, a comforting feeling, and he smiled as he breathed in his love’s scent. “You had this planned from the start, didn’t you?” he said with a slight shake of his head.

Finn chuckled softly. “Not entirely,” he answered as he slowly pulled back from Seth’s embrace. He reached over and grabbed the mugs again, handing one to Seth before taking a sip of his own. “I was about halfway to Dublin when the idea popped into my head.” He grabbed Seth’s free hand in his own and gave it a small squeeze. “I love my family, and it was wonderful to spend a few days with them. But I just couldn’t handle spending Christmas without you.”

Seth blushed. He let go of Finn’s hand and instead cupped his cheek. “I love you so much,” he whispered as he leaned in for a kiss. A thought dawned on him as they separated a few minutes later, and he looked at the other man with a mix of accusation and confusion. “Wait. Was that you I heard in the middle of the night?”

Finn ducked his head sheepishly. “Guilty. I’d just gotten here and bumped into the table trying to hide my luggage after I noticed you were awake.” He shook his head before looking up again. “When I realized you were coming to investigate, I hid in the hall closet,” he admitted with a giggle. “I was so relieved when you went back to bed.”

Seth barked out a laugh, shaking his head before pulling Finn in for another kiss. “This is the best gift you could have possibly given me, babe. Thank you,” he said lovingly, gently running a finger across the older man’s beard.

Finn grinned again, resting his hand on Seth’s shoulder. “I love you, Seth. Merry Christmas.”

Seth sighed happily. “Merry Christmas, babe.”

**Author's Note:**

> Translation via Google: "Feicfidh mé tú i gceann dhá lá." = "I’ll see you in two days."  
> please correct me if this isn't accurate


End file.
